Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

With so many competing interests dependent on the Animas River, any successful efforts to clean it up and preserve it are going to require a lot of compromise. At some points, the complexity of the law, the depth of the bureaucracy and the passions of the opposing sides make reaching a consensus seem unattainably ambitious.

Hundreds of Colorado streams are being analyzed for possible protection under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the largest such review in more than 30 years. The study comes as cities and water districts race to develop water in many of those same streams, efforts that will be much more difficult--and, in some cases, impossible--once the federal protective process is under way.

Some of Utah's most beautiful rivers and tributaries have a chance to earn the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers designation, which could protect them from dams and impacts from oil and gas drilling while preserving the scenery and outdoor recreation. Whether they will, though, is another question entirely. It has taken many years for the U.S.